Existentialism

Existentialism. A disparate trend concentrated mainly in the second quarter of the 20th cent. but with roots in 19th-cent. European thought, especially in the writings of S. Kierkegaard, F. Dostoevsky, and F. Nietzsche. Existentialism is more a pervasive ‘mood’ than a united movement or ‘school’ of thought. However, recurrent features are: (i) deep suspicion of the claims of permanent systems or traditional ideologies, whether religious, metaphysical, or political; (ii) contempt for most academic philosophy as superficial and irrelevant to basic human needs and central human concerns; (iii) concern for the human condition as determined by the ever-present threat of death and ultimate meaninglessness; (iv) conception of human nature as unfixed and unfinished; (v) life as a series of ambiguous possibilities; and, (vi) disengagement from public issues and focus on the solitary individual and the decisions s/he is required to make in ‘the moment’.